TV Recap: Entourage - Dog Day Afternoon

Tonight’s episode of ‘Entourage,’ titled “Dog Day Afternoon” was all about loyalty. Eric’s loyalty to Vince prevented him from being honest with him about his feelings regarding an upcoming vacation they were planning. Lloyd’s loyalty to Ari (and Ari’s loyalty to Lloyd) was put to the test. And Turtle’s loyalty to his beloved dog Arthur caused him and Drama to miss out on a hot night with two women. Meanwhile, new-agent, Amanda is being left out of the loop as Vince and Eric wait it out to see if the Medellin project is going to pan out.

Drama and Turtle head off to the dog park after learning that it’s a great place to meet women. They scope the place out but before they have a chance to choose some potential conquests, two girls and their dog, Maddy spot Arnold, Turtle’s Rottweiler and the six of them hit it off right away. The guys get the girls back to casa-Vince and some pre-barbeque making out ensues. When Maddy and Arnold refuse to stop staring at Turtle and his lady, Cheryl (Busy Philipps) as they smooch, Cheryl tosses the dogs a raw steak to get them to go away.

Dogs tend to get rough when there’s raw meat involved and Maddy ends up getting bit. Drama and Turtle take the girls and their dog to the vet and wait it out while Maddy is treated. Finally, their efforts pay off when the girls take them back to their place to pick up where they left off earlier. Maddy, who earlier, gave Turtle a rambling lecture on how Arnold needs behavior modification, finally pushes Turtle over the edge after she suggests he get his dog neutered. He turns the argument around on her, blaming her for what happened because it was she who threw the steak (which Drama had spent a day and a half marinating) to the dogs in the first place. Cheryl screams at him to get out and neither Turtle nor Drama ended up getting any action. This is probably the last time they try to pick up girls at the dog park.

Eric and Vince were planning a romantic trip to Napa with Sloan and whomever Vince decides to bring. Eric keeps shooting down Vince’s date suggestions, always blaming it on Sloan – saying she doesn’t like some of the girls he suggested and that she’s picky about who she travels with. Vince suggests a girl he “banged in a coat closet” at one of Sloan’s charity events. Eric says it wouldn’t be good to bring someone he barely knows so Vince decides that they all go out to dinner to get acquainted and then they can decide if she can come with them.

Sloan likes Vince’s date and the two seem to have a lot in common (including having lived two blocks away from each other in Florence, Italy). Vince is pleased and seems to think the whole Napa thing is all straightened out. His date tells Sloan that she’s glad he passed her test. Sloan has no idea what she’s talking about here or why she or Vince had it in their heads that she’s picky about who she travels with. It is then that it comes out that Eric lied about Sloan’s pickiness. He just wanted to go away with Sloan without Vince but didn’t have the guts to tell him. In the end, Vince is cool with it (when is he ever not cool with it) and Sloan and Eric head off to Napa together. Sloan is acting mad at Eric but it’s clear by the smile on her face as she looked away from him that she’s kind of happy Eric finally came clean to Vince and was honest. Guess he’s not as much of a “Vince’s boy” as she thought.

Finally, the best part of the episode had to do with Ari and Lloyd. Ari’s not spending every minute waiting for Vince to come back to him. Though little does he know that Vince and Eric are screening Amanda’s calls, waiting to see if Ari’s Medellin project comes through. This week Ari was too busy working on getting Jay Lester, a TV writer, to sign with the agency. As Lester is gay and has only ever had gay agents, Ari wants to use Lloyd to show Lester that he’s a friend to the gay man. Though Lloyd points out that Ari really isn’t all that gay-friendly, he agrees to help him out.

Lloyd, Ari and Lester meet for lunch where Lester insists on feeding Lloyd. Lloyd puts up with it, knowing this could be a very important client to the agency. Lester calls them later to let them know that he’ll sign with them. After Ari and Lloyd do a muted happy dance, Lester tells them that he wants to meet with Lloyd at a gay club to sign the papers, saying that this is how he’s done it with all of his agent’s assistants. It seems evident that there will be more than just a contract signing on the agenda for this meeting. Ari begs/orders Lloyd to go and he agrees though he’s not happy about it all. Lester, who in addition to being kind of rude and conceited, is also overweight and not Lloyd’s type at all. Lloyd says he’ll do it for Ari. Ari doesn’t care who he does it for, as long as they get this guy to sign with them.

Lloyd meets Lester, who insists that Lloyd call him Jay, and gives him the contract to sign. Lester’s more interested in getting close to Lloyd than he is in the contract. Meanwhile, Ari and Mrs. Ari are on their way home from dinner when she asks him why he’s so distracted. He tells her he sold his soul today. She gives him the “tomorrow’s another day” speech but it doesn’t make him feel any better. He makes an illegal U-turn and heads to the club to save Lloyd.

When he shows up, he attempts to get Lester to sign the contract but Lester makes it clear that unless he can take Lloyd home, he’s not signing anything. Poor Lloyd looks like a kidnapped puppy as Lester puts his arm around him and pulls him close. Ari tells Lester that he and the people he works with in this industry may be whores but they’re not pimps. He tells him that he’s taking Lloyd and they’re leaving. As they walk away, Lester makes a nasty remark about Lloyd’s ethnicity, which prompts Lloyd to smack him, tell him off and walk away with Ari as the all-male audience to this incident applauds.

Ari really came through for Lloyd, proving that underneath that arrogant, self-absorbed, greedy exterior, he really does have a heart. Lloyd proved his loyalty to Ari, despite having been told that he probably wouldn’t be promoted for at least another two years and Ari, in turn, came through for him. He he can prove that kind of dedication to Vince, perhaps he might be able to get his biggest client back.